Thematic guide: Noncommunicable diseases

WHO

Raising the priority given to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in health and development has been a key priority for WHO since the development of the Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of NCDs (2000) and the endorsement of its Action Plan by the World Health Assembly in 2008. Our thematic guide to internet resources leads you beyond
the limits of
the Medicus Mundi International Network. Any important resources missing? Please let us know. For MMI Network resources,
please also refer to our "Control major diseases" main page.

"The mission of the Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster
(NMH) is to provide leadership and the evidence base for international
action on surveillance, prevention and control of noncommunicable
diseases, mental health disorders, malnutrition, violence and injuries,
and disabilities. Working jointly with Regional and Country Offices, the NMH
Cluster supports Member States in promotiong health and in preventing
premature death and disability from these conditions by addressing their
risk factors and determinants and improving health care and
rehabilitation services."

WHO Global coordination mechanism for NCDs"The WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control
of NCDs envisages to facilitate and enhance coordination of activities,
multistakeholder engagement and action across sectors in order to
contribute to the implementation of the WHO Global NCD Action Plan
2013–2020."http://www.who.int/nmh/ncd-coordination-mechanism/en/

UN Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases"The United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control
of NCDs, which the Secretary-General established in June 2013 and
placed under the leadership of WHO, is coordinating the activities of
the relevant UN organizations and other inter-governmental organizations
to support the realization of the commitments made by Heads of State
and Government in the 2011 Political Declaration on NCDs, in particular
through the implementation of the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013–2020.
The Task Force’s terms of reference were adopted by ECOSOC in July 2014."http://www.who.int/nmh/ncd-task-force/en/

2013 WHO Global Action Plan on NCDs"The action plan provides a road map and a menu
of policy options for countries to take coordinated and coherent action
to attain the 9 voluntary global targets, including that of a 25%
relative reduction in premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases,
cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 2025."

NCD Alliance "The NCD Alliance was founded by four international NGO federations
representing the four main NCDs – cardiovascular disease, diabetes,
cancer, and chronic respiratory disease. Together with other major
international NGO partners, the NCD Alliance unites a network of over
2,000 civil society organizations in more than 170 countries. The
mission of the NCD Alliance is to combat the NCD epidemic by putting
health at the centre of all policies."www.ncdalliance.org

The NCD Alliance Common Interest Group (CIG) "The CIG has been established to
create a powerful network group of like minded civil society
organizations who wish to work together to achieve the NCD Alliance six
key objectives:

1. NCD / disease national plans for all
2. Improved lifestyles
3. Strengthened health systems
4. Global access to affordable and good quality medicines
5. A tobacco free world
6. Human rights for people with NCDs"http://www.ncdalliance.org/cig

Movement for Global Mental Health "A network of individuals and organisations that aim to improve services for people living with mental health problems and psychosocial disabilities worldwide."http://www.globalmentalhealth.org/

Conflict of Interest Coalition / Network"The Conflict of Interest Coalition/Network was founded in June 2011 with a specific objective to help safeguard the United Nation’s integrity and independence and to ensure its ability to protect health and public health policy setting from commercial influence when dealing with policies related to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).www.babymilkaction.org/conflicts-of-interest

2014, World Health AssemblyPrevention and control of non-communicable diseases in the face of free trade and market deregulation: How to preserve policy space for public health? A civil society side eventhttp://www.medicusmundi.org/en/contributions/events

Tackling NCDs: a different approach is needed
"Describing the rising prevalence of NCDs as a crisis makes for good drama, but misleads us into thinking that this problem is amenable to a quick fix. (...) Much has been learned from vertical disease-oriented programmes. Evidence suggests however that better outcomes occur by addressing diseases through an integrated approach in a strong primary care system." Jan De Maeseneer et al. in: The Lancet, September 2011http://www.thelancet.com - payment or subscription required